[Thack]

I am from Canada and I am starting to see my milage drop about 20% as the cold weather sets in.

Is everyone else in a cold region experiencing the same thing?

More energy is needed now to heat the cabin, and we have winter grade gas up here. My snow tires go on next week and I assume I will see a slight loss in milage there as well.

I have tracked almost every fill up on fully.com and can be viewed below.

 

[hasarad]

I agree the winter fuel, cabin heat and the longer time needed to bring the engine up to operating temperature drastically affect MPG numbers. I'm curious to know how long your regular commute is. I have found the most significant impact is for short drives. My 50-mile drive to work is still in the range of the numbers I was getting during the summer.

 

[ddemetra]

My snow tires go on next week and I assume I will see a slight loss in milage there as well.

Hi from a fellow Canadian


See my post here https://www.gen3insight.com/forum/7.../528-question-about-winter-tire-strategy.html


If you haven't bought the tires yet, try winter alloy lightweight rim, using minus sizes narrower low rolling resistance winter tires like the X-Ice.
Minimize your fuel efficiency drop

 

[Thack]

I always run in econo mode. I see you are from New Jersey.....not the cold temps yet that we have here in Canada. Close to freezing right now where I am located. My drive to work is 11 miles. Half city, half highway. I run in econo mode and seldom ever do any fast acceleration.

Every weekend I Put about 200 miles on the highway driving to the cottage and back....60 mph highway. I would say 80 % of my weekly drive is at 55 to 60 mph on the open highway.

I will double check my tire pressure. I am taking it in next week for snow tires and first oil change.

 

[Thack]

Are you using premium gas to get those results on Fuelly? I only use the cheap stuff.

 

[hasarad]

I use regular gas. I think the biggest benefit, along with the length of the drive, is that 90% of it is on 45mph country roads. That's pretty much the sweet spot for mpg. I got 65mpg on my way home today from Princeton to Phillipsburg New Jersey. This is a pretty significant elevation change. I only got 63mpg going to work this morning on the same route. It was much colder this morning (40F (with cabin heater on) vs. 62F (with cabin heater off) on the way home), and I got lower mpg on a trip with an elevation decrease while driving essentially the same speeds.

 

[Thack]

I agree with you on your two points. I also noticed longer trips brings the average consumption down and 40 to 45 mph is the sweet spot for fuel efficiency.

I will often coast down hills or let off on the accelerator if I see a red light in the distance.

I want to try a tank of premium to see if it makes much of a difference.

Your results are impressive, probably the best on fuelly.

 

[Misterb]

Also from Canada and now that the temps have dropped drastically, so has my mileage. It could also be related to the winter tires I put on at the same time as my last fill-up. According to the car my mileage has gone from 5.8 litres/100 km to 7.8 litres/100 km. I can't do an accurate check until my next fill-up. The winter tires were from my previous Kia Optima and are also 17 inch and on after market alloy mags. For sure, the increased use of cabin heat, seat heaters etc must impact the mileage. I also noticed that although the car still switches to EV automatically as usual, I can't go full electric whenever the heater is functioning since it uses engine heat. My trips are also just short jaunts to the local stores so no long trips. That doesn't help either.

 

[hasarad]

It's sad that I say this, but I'm kind of obsessed with not killing my MPG to the point I wear a jacket and gloves so I don't need to run the heat as much. Am I the only one?

 

[hasarad]

Also from Canada and now that the temps have dropped drastically, so has my mileage. It could also be related to the winter tires I put on at the same time as my last fill-up. According to the car my mileage has gone from 5.8 litres/100 km to 7.8 litres/100 km. I can't do an accurate check until my next fill-up. The winter tires were from my previous Kia Optima and are also 17 inch and on after market alloy mags. For sure, the increased use of cabin heat, seat heaters etc must impact the mileage. I also noticed that although the car still switches to EV automatically as usual, I can't go full electric whenever the heater is functioning since it uses engine heat. My trips are also just short jaunts to the local stores so no long trips. That doesn't help either.

Are your old Kia tires low rolling resistance? That would account for several MPG of decrease if not. The alloy wheels' weight factors in too. I toyed with getting winter tires and rims (Michelin Ice-X LRR tires and cheap alloys), but I'm able to work from home in bad weather, so I decided not to this year.

 

[Thack]

Ha, guilty of the coat trick here as well. Turn on defrost/ fog fan as needed.

Fellow Canadian.....I averaged around the 4.4 to 4.6 l/100 kms in the Summer.......now in November and I am in the 5 to 5.2 range.

Pretty flat land around here....London Ontario.

7.8 L/100 kms seems high. That's only 30.2 mpg! If you go to fuelly.com and look at 2019 Insights.....probably about 40 on there now....tracking their gas milage......nobody is that low. You might need to get something looked at.

 

[BabyBleu]

Hello my fellow cold weather Insight drivers! I live in Pittsburgh, so my weather is not as cold as Canada, but it's cold enough and I have experienced a decline in my mileage. I was checking in here today to see what others have experienced and what they've tried to improve their winter mileage. I wear a coat now and zip up (something I never did before) and only turn the heat on if the window fogs. I might have the wrong idea based on what some others have said. I was thinking that the gas engine ran to provide heat, so I would turn the heater off when my car could go EV and then I'd turn the heat back on going up hill when it needed the gas engine anyway. My mpg has dropped to 40 😔. I think part of that may be my tire pressure. I need to try running my pressure a little higher. I have a short commute (less than 10 miles) in hilly terrain with curves, stop signs, and traffic lights. In the summer, I averaged about 49 mpg. Any insights to improve my mileage are welcome.

 

[Moviemike]

... I was thinking that the gas engine ran to provide heat, so I would turn the heater off when my car could go EV and then I'd turn the heat back on going up hill when it needed the gas engine anyway....

Yeah, that was my thinking as well. I don't rely on "climate control". I use manual heat controls only.

...I think part of that may be my tire pressure. I need to try running my pressure a little higher....

Yeah they drop with the lower temp. I checked mine this morning. Had to add air, mpg back to where it was this afternoon.
Signs of too much air, could be drive wheels spinning in ice-y or slushy spots, or some rear end sliding when cornering.

 

[Alex]

The main factors for mpg of Insight is:
1) Temperature. It seems the car needs is warm up to reach its best efficiency. The colder the weather, the more miles you need to driver to bring it to warmed up state. Practically, in cold weather, short trips kill your mpg.
2) Rain/Snow. It seems the tires are very sensitive to rain/snow. At least mine (Michelin energy saver plus). Don't know the science behind it, but must be related to surface/contact properties.
3) Short trips, especially in cold weather. In warm weather this is less important, because the car doesn't need warm up.
4) highway above 60 mph, or severe traffic jam reduce mpg. The best spot for this car is around 45 mph.

Tips to improve mpg:
1) If possible, keep the car in a relatively heated/warm garage.
2) Avoid short trips as much as possible, especially in cold weather
3) use adaptive cruise control as much as possible. I don't know why, but it is more efficient than if I do the gas and brake myself.

In perfect condition, i.e. sunny with temperature around 70, my car can get above 60s mpg easily. In bad conditions, i.e. cold rainy, I get as low as mid 40s.

Good luck

 

[Moviemike]

...Rain/Snow. It seems the tires are very sensitive to rain/snow. At least mine (Michelin energy saver plus). Don't know the science behind it, but must be related to surface/contact properties.

My experience as well.

With the original equipment tires I noticed a decline in mpg whenever the roads are wet; I checked, independent of outside air temperature. A couple of months ago I had to get a set of new tires. Remarkably there was a big improvement in wet road mpg, almost as good as dry roads mpg! I'd bought Toyo versado-Eco. It is a low roll resistance tire with four groves in the tread instead of the three in the original equipment tires. I don't know the science either, but their working really well.

 

[Jc_vt]

My EX is only a week old, but here in Vermont with temps in the 20's and the heater on I am still getting 55mpg on local roads doing 50-60, often in ACC mode.

 

[Alex]

My EX is only a week old, but here in Vermont with temps in the 20's and the heater on I am still getting 55mpg on local roads doing 50-60, often in ACC mode.

how much is your typical mpg in the first ride in the morning if you drive only about 5 miles?

 

[hasarad]

My EX is only a week old, but here in Vermont with temps in the 20's and the heater on I am still getting 55mpg on local roads doing 50-60, often in ACC mode.

Do you garage your car? Starting with a warmer temp would make a difference. The first few miles will have the engine on constantly to warm the engine and cabin. Longer trips are where it shines in the winter.

 

[Jc_vt]

I do keep my car in an unheated garage, which helps.Rarely drive only 5 miles....what I quoted was for trips of 20-40 miles typically.

 

[J. Bond]

Winter MPG? How's it going for you?

Well, now that we’d in the thick of winter, I’d be interested in hearing from people about how much of a hit their MPG has taken.

In particular, I’d love to hear from folks in the upper Midwest, Northeast, or Canada!